Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Say hello to the Early Birds

Sorry about the delay between blog posts. There’s been a whole lot of nothing going on with the Red Sox of late, so there hasn’t been a whole lot to post about. It’s just that time of year.

I must confess that several Red Sox players have beaten me to Fort Myers. Jon Lester, Kevin Youkilis, Manny Delcarmen and Jonathan Papelbon have all been cited on the premises this week. The official reporting date is Feb. 18, and that’s just for pitchers and catchers.

My good friend Jonny Miller of WBZ-Radio AM caught up with some of these guys this week and here is a sampling.

Delcarmen on his poor finish last year: “A little disappointed. I felt like I was a little banged up and probably should have said something earlier. I just want to go out there and get the ball all the time and Tito knows that. For the most part, I’m excited to come down here early and get ready for the season because I definitely want to start off and finish stronger than I did last year.”

He looks a little leaner this year.

“I lost a little weight. A lot more cardio than last offseason. So I just wanted to come to Florida and show that I was ready.”

Without a doubt, the way last year ended was a bitter pill for the Red Sox to swallow.

“It was tough,” Youkilis said. “Walking away from the season like that. We had a good season. Won 95 games. We made the playoffs nad came up short and got beat by a team that was better than us at the time. For us, this year, I think we have a pretty good team and hopefully we can get to the playoffs again and go further than the first round.”

That said, Jon Lester said it was best not to let the loss fester for too long.

“I thought about it for a day,” said Lester. “Your offseason comes around and you move on. You can’t sit there and wallow in it and say, ‘pitiful me, we got swept.’ You get in the offseason and you get home and you move on, you watch a couple of playoff games and a couple of world series games and see who wins. I really didn’t think about it at all. I think this team is pretty much determined every year to come in and win a World Series. I don’t think our goals are any less than that. We’re going to work hard in Spring Training to get to that goal.”

The players are not minimizing the loss of Jason Bay.

“Jason, we’re going to miss him for his personality and his overall character. He’s a great guy, a great teammate,” Youkilis said. “He really loved Boston. It was very sad that it had to go the way it did. Baseball, it’s a business in a lot of senses. It’s a sad thing sometimes but it is a business. Guys come and go. It’s one of those things where you stay in touch and wish them the best but you also have to accept another guy coming in Mike Cameron that will try to help this team win a World Series. We’re excited to see Mike. I hear he’s a great guy, a great teammate. That’s all you ask for, for guys to give 100 percent on the field.”

Meanwhile, Mike Lowell, who remains in limbo, figures to be a topic of conversation as long as he is still with the Red Sox.

“He’s a great ballplayer,” Youkilis said. “His numbers and accolades speak for themselves. He’s probably one of the best third basemen defensively to play the game. He’s on this team right now. I don’t know if he’s going to be traded or on this team for the year. You never know. If there’s a place for him to play every day, they’re going to try to do that for him. If he’s healthy, he’s a guy that can help a team out.”

19 Comments

Looking forward to 2010!! I can just tell that this is going to be a great season!! LET’S GO RED SOX!! ANd someone do something with this snow… it is highly annoying and I need spring to come now.
-Hollyhttp://irishsoxkid19.mlblogs.com

I’m pleased Papelbon was one of the names you mentioned.
After last year it appeared the relationship between him and the Sox was becoming strained.
I hope this is an indication they’re going to play nice at least for this year. Then it’s probably free agency for him.http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/

Hey all. Speaking of “saying hello”, just a quick check-in. I hope not too many out there in Brownie Points Land are too snowed in. We’re getting about another inch or two tonight.
But that snow is just in time for a recital my daughter will be performing in, in a district-wide school band recital, on Saturday. Due to previous snow delays, tryouts had been postponed, and were only re-scheduled this week (less than a week before the performance was to be held! Hmmm…called it a little close there!…). So I’ve been off the board for a couple days.
But the try-outs finally happened, and Jacquelyne (my daughter) earned FIRST CHAIR TUBA in the District Middle School Band!!! YAY, JACQUELYNE!!! :) Performance is Saturday afternoon (we should be able to navigate the snow well enough to get there), so early next week, I’ll be back to blogging! In the meantime, we’re SO proud of Jacquelyne! :)
I hope everyone will have a great Valentine’s Day! Not too long to P & C’s! GO SOX!
By the way, has anyone heard from Bosox Brian, or David Benjamin lately? I hope you guys are well! Take care, all! GO SOX!

heyyyyyyyyyyyy…..ST …isrt around the corner….i started a fantasy league if ur interested email me at itwasntme7777@yahoo.com….draft is in 2 weeks on a sunday evenin…the invite will have all the details on league…judge….ellen has joined so it should be a great league….judge

Good Mornin’ all!
I just opened my email to find a note from our recovering Garry.
He asked me to post a note to thank everyone for all of the well wishes he got from all of us. He is doing well and is participating in physical therapy. It’s a slow process (I’m a veteran in this area), but it seems that he will be “back” with us soon. He has no more dressing on the incision.
But from his email I figured out what we can get him for his birthday: A wax job on his back. It seems that the O.R. tech’s didnt think it was important to shave the area where his dressing was placed….. OUCH!
Again, he wants everyone to know how much he appreciates the thoughts and prayers.
Ellen

pre-season predictions….watch for beltre to go nuts this yr…he just needed a change of scenary…scuts i fear will be mediocre at best…papi is in a contract yr…he gains his stroke back…nancy will continue to be hurt alot(i know i know that was a given)…vmart puts up huge numbers….lester becomes the ace….lackey will bomb(hes a gamer,but i fear he will find it hard to pitch in the east)….pedey will be pedey…yuke will have a breakout yr with power numbers and rbis….30 homers and 120 plus rbis…THE TRADE…..will happen before deadline for gonzo…cameron gets hurt at his old age and westmoreland lands in OF and stays there for yrs to come….beckett is my hardest prediction to make…im gonna just say i think he finishes around last yrs numbers…buchy gains respect…sleeper from minors is d richardson…watch him this yr….mikey comes back to health to play a significant roll off the bench and on days off for the regs….timmy will win 8-10 games out of the BP as the long reliever…dice k gets traded as soon as his value goes up….and the easist of all my years predictions….tito will piss me off daily lol….JUDGE

Same to you Ellen…..
I’ll sya one thing about Manny DelCarmen…..at least he puts forth a determined effort. I hope he turns it around and has a good season from April to October. I’m a sucker for a person who has a good work ethic and gives it all he’s got. Go get’em Manny….we will definitely need you to be effective this year. Could be slim pickins in the runs department!!!! Go Sox!

THE EQUIPMENT TRUCK IS IN FT. MYERS!! WHOOO HOOOO!! Delcarmen was more banged up then he let on? PLEASE!!! Can someone ask the players to PLEASE admit when they are hurt and need some TLC?? It does the team no good if they don’t. Maybe they need a “mom” on the staff to go around each day and ask “are you feeling okay?” lol! I so can not wait for the season to start! IT is ALMOST HERE!! And anyone who wants to offer me advice…YUP! The MLB Bloggers are doing a fantasy baseball league again this season. I didn’t finish last last season (Yay!) but would so like to do better this season. Soooo..any and all advice will be greatly appreciated! Mike/shakenbake is my co-owner on the team – so wish us luck!

Ron, I thought the same thing when I read that the players were “cited”. I think it was for speeding–they were in too much of a hurry to get to ST! ;)
Julia, maybe Dice-K and DelCarmen can use some milk and cookies! Gripping the milk glass can help Lowell with his thumb rehab, also! ;) Ellen can serve up some of those half-full glasses of milk! ;)
Let’s get this season underway already! GO SOX!

I’m looking at all of these projected stats and standings and they all have the yankees on top. At least a few have the Sox as WC and I know that the WC is still the playoffs and also that projections aren’t set in stone, but they aren’t far off usually and it bothers me that Theo and the owners might look at that and be content. They need to strive for first!

I don’t know if all of you saw this about Garry, I put it up Saturday.

Good Mornin’ all!
I just opened my email to find a note from our recovering Garry.
He asked me to post a note to thank everyone for all of the well wishes he got from all of us. He is doing well and is participating in physical therapy. It’s a slow process (I’m a veteran in this area), but it seems that he will be “back” with us soon. He has no more dressing on the incision.
But from his email I figured out what we can get him for his birthday: A wax job on his back. It seems that the O.R. tech’s didnt think it was important to shave the area where his dressing was placed….. OUCH!
Again, he wants everyone to know how much he appreciates the thoughts and prayers.
Ellen

I think its better that they arent projecting that the Sox “have it all”. Let the guys fly under the radar and take ‘em all by surprise. Thats alot of pressure to live under, when everyone, before you eve start the season are saying you have all the parts to win it all!
IDOBELIEVE~~ LET’SGOREDSOXLET’SGO!!!

Hi, Im new to this blog. But Ill tell you, I cant wait for the games to start. I dont know how I do it but I dont miss a game. It just becomes a big part of my life! I think my husband and kids are jealouse of the boston red socks!!
cathy in NH…

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